sprintin08

thanks so much for the advice everyone

i have one year left of school for my RN and absolutely love it. however, i am not cut out for all the drama at work. i work at a nursing home and it is 100% my passion. i love the elderly population more than anything and have never once dreaded going to work in terms of taking care of the residents. the part i dread is working with one specific other aide who i swear has it out for me! she writes nasty notes directed at me in a notebook that we are supposed to keep to discuss what is going on with residents and what she writes is complete lies about stuff i didnt do that there is proof i did do. this, i can handle... all the nurses seem to love me, have told me countless times how happy they are when i am working because they know the job will get done. the nurses know that i did whatever the girl claims i didnt and nobody really believes her. however, a resident recently told me that this girl has told him not to press his call light when i am working because i wont answer it anyway. i could not believe she would do something like this! then, this morning i was getting ready to leave at 7am after i worked the night shift. this specific aide was working on the floor after me and i was supposed to give her report. she comes in at 7, she was on her phone yelling at whoever she was talking to, clocks in, and then leaves the room. i wait 30 minutes for her to come back, and she didnt. so i write on a piece of paper the report i was going to give her, then go find her in the parking lot where she was sitting in her car and i give her the paper (now, i probably did not have the nicest look on my face, but i was irritated that she was on her phone when she was supposed to be working and i needed to leave) and then i head back inside to get my purse. so then i am getting ready to walk out the door and she comes storming in and begins to tell me how i am mean, have a bad attitude, and am a terrible worker IN FRONT OF THE RESIDENTS that were sitting on a couch near us. and these residents that were sitting there are NOT ones that are confused and going to forget this. now i know there are a lot worse things that could happen than this, but i was livid! i dont know who she thinks she is that she can talk to me like that in front of the residents i told her i wasnt going to argue with her and walked out the door. i was so mad that i actually got completely lost driving home, not paying attention to where i was going. i am just really hurt, i honestly try to be nice to everyone and i dont know what she has against me that would cause her to do this to me. i can deal with her talking about me to the other workers, but it really makes me so upset that now she is saying stuff to/in front of the residents. i am just not cut out for this and i dont want to bring it up to my boss because i think it would cause her to hate me even more, and i am not a confrontational person but i dont even know what to do anymore i am so sick of dealing with her drama when i am there to do something i love.

I work at a nursing home and last night there was a resident who was convinced the building was on fire and needed to get out. I was trying to calm him down, telling him there was no fire. Then the nurse came in and was telling him she was calling the fire department and he needed to stay in his room for now. This surprised me a little bit, and I thought about how I am in my third year of nursing school, and I never learned how to deal with situations like this. Do you tell them they are confused?? or go along with it?? I almost feel like if they are so sure of something, its almost offensive to them to say they are wrong, but I don't really know what the best way to handle it is!

ok thanks everyone! and I will make sure its HIPAA from now on, thanks :)

Hi, I am a nursing student. Is it against hippa to tell people what type of procedures I did or what type of surgeries I saw at clinical if I am not saying any information about the patient? Someone told me it was, but I don't see why saying "i started an IV today" or "I saw a surgery for a hernia" would a problem. Thank you!

I am just finishing my second summer working as an aide in a nursing home. I'll be starting my third year of nursing school in the fall to be an RN. I am trying to decide what I should do for a job next summer, as it will be my last summer before I graduate, and I'm not sure what my best option would be in terms of what would look best to get a job after I graduate. Should I stay at the nursing home I've been working at (absolutely LOVE it there, and they will take me back) or should I try to get a job as an aide at a hospital??? I think I want to be a hospice nurse (or definitely working with the elderly population), and I was doing some research and saw most places require you work med-surg for atleast 1 year. So, I'm not sure if I should attempt to get experience at a hospital outside my clinicals, as that may look better than a nursing home to get a future RN job???? Any thoughts would be appreciated :)

patient: help me, help me, will somebody help me! me: what do you need? patient i need you! me: why's that patient: because you're my sweetheart... and i love you **big smile on her face** patient: nurse, get me out of this bed RIGHT NOW me: why do you need to get out? patient: because there is a giant bowling ball falling from my ceiling and it's headed straight for my face

I am still a student, but reading through everyone's posts have caused some questions to pop up in my mind. I don't think I would want to add a patient as a friend on facebook, but I am curious as to why it is wrong for "patients to be friends" ...what exactly does this mean? I work at a nursing home as a summer job, and I have really tried to make an effort to talk to the residents, as many of them have few visitors and seem very lonely, which really saddens me. Is it wrong for me to talk about my family, life, etc to these residents? I make sure to never complain about my life or anything, and keep everything positive. Talking with the residents is probably one of my favorite parts of my job, and this was the same case in the clinicals I have had so far. I was wondering where the line should be drawn on discussing life, etc w/ patients???

i was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of good practice books for the NCLEX. i wanted to get to practice over the summer. if anyone has any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!! thanks :)

I have finally started my first clinicals at the hospital in nursing school :) The first couple weeks, I have felt a little bit like I have been in the way and the nurses have been stressed out/possibly annoyed with me and the other students being there. My instructor is not doing much instructing, sooo we have not been doing all that much work. I was wondering what nursing students can do that is the most helpful to nurses... like stay out of the way and help if we're asked, offer to help with stuff, just jump in?!?! ...Do they want us to ask them questions, or are they too busy, etc. This is my first round of clinicals so I really only know the basic stuff, so its not like I can do everything, and the rest of my group seems to kind of want to just sit around, but I really want to learn and be a help to the staff, I just am not sure what's the best way to approach everything!

which of the following meds can NOT be given through a nasogastric or feeding tube? lasix 40mg cartia XT cardizem 30mg amoxicillin 500mg dilantin 200mg ...i cant find it anywhere in my drug book this is the first time i am learning about feeding tubes and stuff, so i am not really sure what the answer is or if it has to do w/ whether the pills can be crushed or not!! any help would be greatly appreciated:)

nursing school is stressful, the hardest thing ever, but the best thing ever as well. for me, something that really helps me is staying motivated and reminded as to why i want to be a nurse in the first place, so i have nursing quotes and pictures of my little sister (shes the reason i want to be a nurse) taped to my desk and they definitely give me the motivation i need to study through all hours of the night. dont expect to pass everything w/ flying colors/get all A's because it wont happen. set realistic goals for yourself and be thankful you are entering an amazing and life changing profession :)

i just finished my first round of clinicals and i would say i regret being so tense and nervous!! i wasnt passing meds or doing anything serious, so its not like i was going to hurt my patient taking her vital signs that i had practiced hundreds of times! i need to gain more confidence in my abilities!! thatll only come w/ time though :)

i have yet to cry in nursing school, but i did cry in my summer job as an aide. a 96 year old lady at the nursing home i worked at was crying to me about how she just wanted to die. i held her hand and gave her a hug and she then told me she wanted to give me all her money when she dies. i teared up and when i left her room, a few tears were rolling down my face. i felt so bad for the poor lady

thank you very much everyone!! i will definitely ask everything i am not sure about!

hi... i am a sophomore nursing major and starting my first day of clinicals friday at a nursing home... ahhh!! i got a little slip of paper w/ some information on my patient, and this all made me a bit nervous. it says she uses the hoyer lift. my instructor showed us this briefly in class, but i dont remember how to use it... it says, "2 assist hoyer" ...im not sure if this means 2 people do it, or 2 what? i dont think they'd make me do it alone... atleast i hope not!! i have no idea how to use the thing! it also says the letter "B" under "day, eve, night" i was wondering if anyone knows what this stands for. and it says "T" under "ADL'S" im not sure what T stands for either. i worked in a nursing home, so i am hoping to feel comfortable, but im still nervous

hi... i am a sophomore nursing major and starting my first day of clinicals friday at a nursing home... ahhh!! i got a little slip of paper w/ some information on my patient, and this all made me a bit nervous. it says she uses the hoyer lift. my instructor showed us this briefly in class, but i dont remember how to use it... it says, "2 assist hoyer" ...im not sure if this means 2 people do it, or 2 what? i dont think they'd make me do it alone... atleast i hope not!! i have no idea how to use the thing! it also says the letter "B" under "day, eve, night" i was wondering if anyone knows what this stands for. and it says "T" under "ADL'S" im not sure what T stands for either. i worked in a nursing home, so i am hoping to feel comfortable, but im still nervous

mine happened just a couple weeks ago:( i am a nursing student, going into my 2nd year... and working as an aide at an assisted living facility. i took care of the sweetest and kindest man. i thought he was about 75, but turned out he was 95! he was in fairly good shape when i first started working, but started declining. He was in total kidney failure and I am assuming the family decided to let him go instead of dialysis or something. He seemed a little depressed and told me on numerous occasions that he just wanted to die. I mainly got him dressed, put to bed, showered, etc. He never forgot to thank me and told me how wonderful i was and i was the best aide there...which meant so much to me. i got on my shift about 10am and the previous aide told me he didnt eat breakfast, and i would need to make him come to lunch. I went to his room about 11 and told him I'd help him start getting ready. He told me he couldnt come and just wanted to lay down and he was very cold (it had to have been 85 degrees in the room, it was so hot in there). I was giving him a hard time...it figures, the last discussion i had with him i then slowly shut the door and left as he laid in bed with the covers on. The nurse went down about an hour later and he was not breathing. I ran down to see the nurse giving him cpr. The rescue squad came and did cpr for about 20 min, but he was gone. I had only known him for a couple months, but it was still hard. He was just one of the most appreciative and kindest people there and I wish I had told him what a nice man he was more than the couple times i did I know he is in a better place now.

i am in nursing school, but working as a nurses aide for the summer. a few weeks ago i was getting ready to shower at patient w/ colon cancer. he is about 90 years old and cant control his poop at all. he has to wear 2 depends and poops ALL the time, he changes them like every 30 min! but he is in very good shape otherwise though. i had him undress mostly in a chair, then he got up and i held a towel under his butt until he got in the shower. he still had his depends on, so i squatted down to help him step out of them while he stood up out of the chair. he lost his balance a little, so without thinking, i moved my hand with the towel up to his hip to hold him up. poop, well it was more like diarrhea, poured out, and all down my shirt/bra, since i was squatting!!! i still feel disgusting thinking about it!

i am working as a nurse's aide in a nursing home for the summer until i go back to school. a nursing home isnt where i want to be when i am a nurse, and i am not a big fan of my job. i have a really hard time relaxing when i am at home... i cant stop thinking about work, the patients, and dreading the next time ill be working. does anyone have any advice on how to separate work from home? thanks!

I am working as a nurse's aid in an assisted living facility this summer until i go back to school. Today, about 8 of the residents has severe diarrhea that I had to clean up. Some of the people had samples that are getting tested for c-diff. The nurse acted pretty sure atleast one had it. I wore gloves and washed my hands, but at one point the glove ripped in the middle of my palm and i had it all over my hand. Is c-diff really contagious? should i be worried???

Thank you for posting this and for the wonderful work you do. It is such an honor to be able to make a difference in someone's life.

thanks again soo much to everyone that responded. i really appreciate it and its nice to know that other people have felt the same way i do!!! i really hope i slowly become comfortable at the job this summer b/c i am really passionate about becoming an RN so hopefully this will all work out b/c i do not have a second choice for a career lol! and like i said, i only have one year of nursing school down so far so i still have 3 more years before i get my degree to get more comfortable. thanks again it was really helpful to read the responses :)

thank you very much responding. i really appreciate it. my job is only for the summer before i go back to school so hopefully ill start to get more comfortable. i think the main problem is that i am very doubtful of my abilities to do things correctly. i havent done anything really "wrong" yet so idk why i am so tense and nervous. i am like this in pretty much every aspect of life though, so i guess i just need to work on fixing it. becoming a nurse really means a lot to me so i just hope i can get more comfortable eventually. just the thought of having someone elderly person's life in my hands while trying to help them do something as simple as getting out of bed (let alone when i graduate having to give them meds and stuff) is really nerve-wrecking in my mind... im so nervous about hurting them that i cant concentrate on anything else.

Hi, I am a student studying to be an RN. I just completed my first year and have started a job as a nurse's assistant at a nursing home. I have been having a lot of doubts about wanting to be a nurse since starting my new job. I have shower patients, help them use the bathroom, get dressed, etc... right now, there is someone training me, but I have A LOT of trouble lifting the patients and dont know what i am going to do when i have to do it by myself! I explained my concerns to my boss and was kind of not taken seriously. I have wanted to be a nurse my whole life, and am really disappointed by how my job is going, i just dont LOVE it as much as i thought i would. is this normal to be nervous like i am around the patients at first? i have no trouble talking to them... just the nursing duties make me nervous. this is really my first time, i dont really know what i am doing, and get scared of the idea of carrying a 98 yr old man. i just dont know if im strong enough, but if i cant lift the patients, then i wont be able to have this job that i have currently. idk what to do idk if i am meant to be a nurse now, b/c i just feel like i cant do this stuff... i have no problem w/ blood, poop, throw up anything so idk what my problem is...any advice would be greatly appreciated. thank you